Embers of the Past

Disclaimer: Yeah, you get the point, I don't on anything here.

Seriously people, read and review Good, Bad, Monkeys, i don't care, just tell me what you think, I like reviews, they let me know if a story is worth continuing.
Read the AN at the bottom.
=1=

Uchiha Itachi scanned through the darkened woods outside his familial complex with his almost luminescent Sharingan for his young cousin, he took a deep breath to steady himself when he heard the familiar pained whimpering off to one side. His blood red eyes could see every detail of the small blond boy curled up underneath a large tree as the warm nighttime breeze blew some fallen leaves across the ground. There was almost no noise from his feet as he moved beside Naruto and set a sympathetic hand on the boy's shoulder.::

“Naruto-kun, wake up.” Itachi said gently.

“I-Itachi-niisan?” The blonde asked quietly.

“Mother and Father are starting to worry about you Naruto.” The older Uchiha nearly whispered. “What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I-I'm sorry, I didn't want you to see me crying.” The six-year-old blond Uchiha said, indeed Itachi could see the puffy red lines on his cheeks from tears. “It just hurts so much.”

“It's alright Naruto, I understand.” He said, pulling the boy to his chest in a light hug. “I'm sorry that you have to bare this burden, but you're the only one in the village with the potential to restrain the Kyuubi.”

“Why does it have to burn so much?” Naruto asked as he hugged his cousin. “It feels like my body is on fire all the time, it never stops burning.”

“I know Naruto-kun, I'm sorry.” Itachi said, pulling away from him as his matured sharingan began to swirl. “Look into my eyes and take a nap little cousin.”

The young blond obeyed the older boy and looked deep into the twin swirling patterns of Uchiha Itachi's eyes, the pain of the demon's chakra faded away as he watched the tomoe quickly circling the pupils of his cousin's eyes. His slender shoulders sagged as all the muscles in his body went limp, causing him to fall into his tired looking relatives waiting arms. A single tear slipped from Itachi's eye and fell on Naruto's face as the boy slumbered peacefully in his protective grip, so much intrigue and darkness surround the innocent child that he was unaware of, both within his own clan and from with out, and all because of the demon sealed inside that caused him endless pain. How he wished there was a way he could simply spare the boy all his pain by taking it into himself.

~*~*~

Naruto sat quietly in the darkness as the memory from his past subsided, he had never been able to figure out why his cousin had slaughtered all of their family save for himself and Sasuke. It made no sense to the young blond why just before the attack Itachi would ask him to keep Sasuke away from the complex and then tell them both that the loving and caring older brother they both saw him as was nothing but a ruse to test their capacity. Another memory fragment surfaced as the thought crossed his mind for the ten thousandth time in the past four years, all it was was Itachi's voice saying for words to him.::

“Naruto, save him, please.”

He looked over when he heard Sasuke stirring in his sleep again, the scent of his older cousin's sweat was thick in the air to his sensitive nose. When he could no longer stand to sit and stare at nothing the blond finally climbed out of bed and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast for them. It would be a few more hours before Sasuke finally woke up from his recurring nightmare, it always was, so Naruto knew he had plenty of time to cook up an extravagant breakfast like he would every morning since there was never any chance of him returning to sleep once he had woken from his own hour of special hell. A gentle tingle on his finger tips reminded him where he was and he pulled his fingers from the stove's licking flame stoically, silently thankful that the pain receptors in his body had simply shut down years ago. Naruto finished setting the table just before Sasuke stepped around the corner wearing only the long shirt he wore when he slept.::

“Smells good.” Sasuke commented as he watched his blond cousin working on the table spread.

“Always does.” Naruto said, giving the darker hair boy the smile he reserved for family as he motioned for Sasuke to take his seat. “You had that nightmare again, didn't you?”

“Yeah, I saw, relived, him killing everyone else off again.” He sighed before taking a bite of his food. “This is good.”

“Always is.” He repeated before taking a bite of his own food.

“Is our morning routine always like this?”

“Yeah.” Naruto paused before holding up his burned fingertips. “Well, sort of, I don't usually burn myself.”

“Looks painful.” Sasuke observed.

“Not really, I can't feel much pain anymore.” He shrugged.

“You going to wear that orange abomination again today?” His cousin asked, looking over his cousin's usual attire.

“I happen to like that 'orange abomination' as you put it.” The blond defended. “It's great for stealth training.”

“You've always been able to sneak up on just about anyone.” The raven haired boy retorted.

“Yeah, but you know your damn good when you can do it in bright orange.” He grinned.

“What are you going to use when you get tired of orange?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I was thinking about a neon sign that says 'I'm right here stupid', what do you think?” He returned, taking another bite of his food.

“You're probably the only one who could get away with it.” Sasuke sighed. “Come to think of it, why did you start wearing orange?”

“I scared a few ANBU members just after, you know, and one nearly hit me in the groin with my lucky kunai.” Naruto answered, pulling out the well worn weapon.

“I don't see why it's lucky if it nearly hit you there.”

“It's lucky because it didn't.” He said with another grin.

“Good point.” He nodded before looking at the kitchen clock. “We have to meet Kakashi and Sakura in an hour.”

“No.” Naruto said, raising a single finger. “We have to meet Sakura in an hour, it'll be at least three for Kakashi-sensei.”

“You choose, todays mission is what?” Sasuke said after a nod of agreement.

“Too easy, it's been a week already, so Tora.” The fox-container said , pulling a fifty ryou bill out of his pocket.

“No way, digging potatoes without a doubt.” The darker boy said, pulling out his own fifty and handing it to his cousin. “Race you to the training field, Dead Last.”

“You're on bastard.” He said with a grin before they both bolted for the door.

The two Uchihas jockeyed for the lead as they raced down the streets past the still drowsy vendors, earning more than a few cusses and threats on everything but their mothers' dogs' great uncles and their kitchen sink. Neither of them could really hear what was being said as they poured everything they had into their competition. Sasuke skidded to an almost nonexistent stop before he cut down across an alley shortcut but the blond made no moves to even slow slightly, he just pulled out all the stops and began to pour his chakra into his legs.::
Sakura watched quietly as Sasuke appeared from the woods covered in sweat and running straight for her, she nearly fainted when he touched one hand to the stump behind her as he panted heavily for breath. Though she knew the real reason why he was now pinning her to the training stump, the fan girl within her was screaming about him preparing to announce his undying love to her. After he caught his breath of course. She looked over he shoulder when she saw him tense and stare at something on the other side of the log, there was Naruto waving at him with that annoyingly proud grin of his.::

“Yo, Usuratonkachi, what took you so long?” The blond asked, looking up at both of them. “Hey Sakura-chan.”

“Sasuke is not useless!” Sakura shouted as she began to beat the crap out of her crush's cousin. “Honestly, I don't see why you put up with him Sasuke.”

“He's family.” Sasuke said with a shrug. “How'd you beat me here, I took a shortcut.”

“Body flicker beats a shortcut.” Naruto said as he stood up, ignoring the remaining tingle from Sakura's punches.

“Eh? Since when do you use body flicker during a race?” His cousin asked.

“Since when do you take shortcuts?” He responded, poking him in the forehead like Itachi use to do. “Shortcuts may seem like the easiest way to do thing Sasuke, but more often than not they'll come back to haunt you.”

“Don't do that!” Sasuke shouted, slapping the hand away violently and causing Sakura to take a step back instinctively. “You know who used to do that.”

“I know, some days, it's the best way to get you to listen.” Naruto said gently as he pulled back his hand. “Don't forget what I said though.”

“Good advice.” Kakshi said suddenly from atop the training stump, causing all of them to let out a scream and cling together in an almost comical fashion. “What's wrong with you three?”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Sensei?” Naruto asked as soon as he calmed his breathing enough to keep his voice from becoming a squeak. “Kakashi-sensei is never on time, much less early.”

“You know, I didn't always used to arrive late for things.” The jounin remarked.

“Really, what happened?” The blond asked.

“I met an Uchiha.” He said, leaving his words to hang in the air as he pulled out a scroll. “Today's mission...”

“Whoa, hold up for a second.” Naruto interrupted him. “Sakura-chan, you in for standard?”

“Yeah, uh, what do you guys have?” Sakura asked, looking between the Uchihas

“I'm guessing potato digging.” Sasuke responded. “Naruto says Tora's out again.”

“Eh, babysitting.” The kunoichi said after a moment of thought, pulling out a fifty Ryou bill hand handing it to Naruto.

“Alright, what's the mission Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked, pulling out the other two bills and holding it in the air.

“Tora is loose again.” Kakashi sighed as he looked down at the grinning blond. “What made you say Tora?”

“It's been a week since we caught him last, he was about do for another attempt at freedom.” The blond answered, pocketing the money. “I guess we start at the usual point then.”

*~*~*

The three genin stood quietly next to their teacher as they watched Tora struggling to escape from the Fire Country Lord's wife and her crushing hugs once again. Naruto smirked as he watched the scene, taking sadistic pleasure in the sight, feeling that it was due payment for all the scratches the cat had given him during the capture. While he couldn't actually feel the pain from the the irritating gashes, he still didn't like being used as a scratching post for the animal. Though he also felt a bit of pity for the cat, not much but it was there.::

“Alright, Kakashi's Team Seven your next duty is...” The Hokage paused as he read the list of tasks. “Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village and helping with potato digging.”

“No thank you.” Naruto said in a deadpan voice. “I'm getting tired of all this same shit over an over again, honestly, it's gotten to the point our team is betting on the first monotonous mission of the day, hell, it's even gotten to the point that I know when Tora's escaped and where to catch him without being told about it.”

'I agree.' Sasuke thought, giving no outward sign save for a slight shift of his eyes.

'Geez, how annoying.' Sakura thought as she scowled at him. 'How can someone like him be related to Sasuke?'

'I was wondering when he would do this.' Kakashi gave a mental sigh as he kept his body completely relaxed and under his conditioned control.

“Naruto, you are all still just rookies.” Iruka said calmly as he looked at his former student. “Everyone starts off with the simple duties and then they work their way up.”

“But, we keep getting stuck with the crappiest possible duties!” Naruto said, going from a calm tone to the almost unpredictably emotional one everyone had gotten used to.

“Quiet you!” Kakashi said, hitting his shortest pupil on top of the head as the Hokage sighed.

The old man took another puff from his pipe before he began to explain the basics of mission assignment to the young blond and his team, emphasizing his words occasionally with a well timed wave of his hand over the scrolls before him. “You guys just recently became genin so D-rank missions are perfect for you.” He finished speaking before he noticed that Team Seven was in the middle of a conversation of their own.

“Well, I was thinking Pork Miso soup with some onigiri and red bean past tonight actually.” Naruto said to his cousin, seeming to be completely oblivious to the Hokage glaring at his back. “What do you think Sasuke?”

“Sounds good too.” Sasuke said with a small nod.

“Hey Sakura-chan, why don't you join us tonight?” The blond suggested before pausing after a moment. “You too Kakashi-sensei, you look like you could use a good home cooked meal, and we have plenty of food.”

“I don't know, my mom and dad don't want me hanging out with you for some reason.” Sakura admitted after a second. “They nearly died when they found out that I was one the same team with you Naruto.”

“I've got some projects to do at my own home.” Kakashi excused himself.

“Hey! Did you even hear a word I said?” Sarutobi demanded as he stared at the rookie team.

“Of course we did.” Naruto said, taking a deep breath before repeating the Third's entire lecture at three times the speed completely deadpan. “Hey. Did you even hear a word I said?”

“Wow, I can' believe you said that whole thing.” Sasuke said as his cousin took a few deep breaths.

“All in one breath no less.” Naruto chuckled.

“Naruto, how is it that you could repeat all that after you were holding a completely separate conversation, but you could never remember a single thing I said in class?” Iruka asked as his eye twitched.

“Heh, busted.” He said with a sheepish grin. “I actually do remember all your lectures, the ones I heard anyway. I just don't like repeating things like that- honestly, could you imagine what would have happened if the entire class found out that I'm a human tape-recorder?”

“Somehow, I don't feel surprised by that.” Iruka sighed heavily.

“I understand why we're being given simple missions, somebody does have to do them, but I'd just like to get a chance to prove myself.” Naruto said, once again speaking in a completely rational tone. “I want to show you and everyone else that I'm not just some troublemaking brat anymore. How can I do that if I'm never given the chance to?”

“Okay. If you want it that much.” Sarutobi said, getting surprised looks from everyone save Naruto and Sasuke. “I'll give you a C-rank protection mission for an important individual.”

“Hell yeah!” Naruto shouted, throwing a fist up in the air before stepping forward with a grin plastered across his face. “Who is it, come on tell us, who?!”

“Calm down, I'm about to introduce him.” The Hokage said with a pleasant chukle before he turned to the door. “Hey, would you come in here please?”

The side door to the room slid open with the aid of a couple scarred hands, one of which was holding a bottle of strong sake. For only an instant Naruto's eyes turned red and he took in the whole extent of the man before he blinked. The name was somewhere in his mid forties and a manual laborer by trade judging by the heavy scarring on his hands and forearms. He seemed to be farsighted by the way that he wore his glasses on the tip of his nose and looked across the room at the group without them, the slight blush on his face and the smell of fresh sake told that he liked to drink a lot and had been drinking just before he opened the door.::

“What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats.” The man commented before he took another drink from his half empty bottle. “Especially the shortest one with the super stupid looking face. Are you even a ninja?”

“Grab him.” Sasuke said when he saw his cousin's bright blue eye starting to twitch.

“I'll kill you!” Naruto shouted as all three members of his team grabbed onto him, despite this he was still making headway until Kakashi locked himself to the floor with chakra.

“What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect? Idiot.” Kakashi growled as his arms struggled to keep their grip on the homicidal blonde. 'He's definitely a lot stronger than he looks.'

“All right.” Naruto said after a moment as he stopped struggling and started to take deep relaxing breaths. “I'm calm, I won't kill him.”

“A bit of advice.” Sasuke said, looking up at the client. “Don't make any comments about his height. He hates being reminded he's...”

“Short?” Sakura finished questioningly, earning a glare from Naruto.

“I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna.” The man announced after a few seconds. “I expect you to provide me with super excellent protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge.”

“Fine.” Naruto sighed. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning, fist thing.” Tazuna answered.

“Fine, all three of you are staying with us at the Uchiha complex tonight it'll save time and we can get a better start that way.” The blond said, suddenly sensing excuses about to be made by Kakashi and Sakura and he turned to them with a smile. “It's not negotiable, grab your gear from your homes and come over when you're done.”

“If I didn't know any better, I would swear some days that boy thinks he's in charge.” Kakashi said as Naruto walked away. “He is right though, it'll save on time to have us all staying in the same place.”

“What'll I tell my parents?” Sakura asked, looking up at her teacher. “I don't know why, but the seem to hate Naruto.”

“Tell them you're doing a training exercise before you leave.” The jounin shrugged.

~*~*~

Sakura's mouth was watering at the unbelievably enticing smells coming from the kitchen, when she tried to sneak into the kitchen to see what Naruto was preparing she found herself being hauled away by two of the blond's clones as he continued to work on that night's dinner. Sasuke passed the time by settling down on a small cylindrical pillow and reading some small blue book beside their teacher. Kakashi himself had been the inspiration behind the idea when he had initially sat down and pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise in a mostly successful attempt to block out the smells from the kitchen. She looked over at Tazuna and saw him shaking his now empty bottle as if to try to get every last drop gathered into one area for consumption.::

“Dinner is almost ready.” Naruto said from behind Tazuna suddenly, causing every one, including Kakashi, to jump in surprise as he pulled a small bottle out from behind his back.

“How the hell did you do that?!” Sakura demanded as she patted her chest, trying to either slowdown or restart her heart- she wasn't quiet sure which.

“I'm a ninja.” Was all he said as he handed the bottle to Tazuna.

“What's this?” The man asked.

“Sake, we've got a lot to spare, and I figured that you would run out right about now.” He shrugged before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

“Are you alright Sakura?” Sasuke asked, noticing how pale she was.

“Y-yeah, I just never knew Naruto could be so...” She paused to think of the right word. “Stealthy.”

“You don't get used to it.” The Uchiha shrugged. “That's the reason he always wear orange, it's so he doesn't scare people like that.”

“Really? I would think he would do it all the time.” The kunoichi remarked, thinking about what she thought she knew about the blond.

“I learned my lesson when I scared some ANBU that just returned from a mission.” The lead Naruto said as three clones walked in with a table between them. “I nearly got hit with my lucky kunai.”

“If you nearly got hit, why is it lucky?” She asked, looking up at him as they set the table up between the guests.

“That's exactly why it's lucky.” Kakashi answered for him, turning the page in his book before covering his mouth with a hand and chuckling. “He didn't actually get hit with it.”

“Alright, point taken.” She said reluctantly. “But, that happens to a lot of ninjas, most of them don't consider those kunai lucky.”

“Well, actually, it was more where I almost got hit than the fact that I did almost get hit.” The Naruto said as the other two disappeared in puffs of smoke. “If the other way was the case, I'd have enough lucky weapons to stock half of the ninja's in the Leaf with lucky gear for a year.”

“Huh?” She grunted, looking at him curiously.

“Eh, let's just leave it at the fact that this isn't appropriate dinner conversation.” Naruto said, giving her a strange look before he was dispelled in a puff of smoke.

“Just believe him on that.” Sasuke said before she could press the issue. “You'll probably hear the rest of the story some day.”

“He was almost hit in the nuts.” The jounin said without looking up, getting a look from Sasuke. “What? I was with that squad that he scared.”

“Really?” Naruto asked as he and several clones entered the room baring the food. “So, who was it that threw the kunai that almost hit me there?”

“I don't really know, I was the only one who didn't throw anything.” He responded as he finally returned his book to his weapon bag.

“Hmm, so you're the one who wore the dog mask.” Naruto said as the clones once again dispelled before he began to pour the tea.

“Yes, that was me.” He nodded as he sat up to his place at the low table.

All three of his subordinates leaned conspicuously into the table as Kakashi prepared to take the first bite of his food, a fact that made him slightly nervous.

“Wow! This is super great!” Tazuna shouted, distracting all three of the genin. “I never would have guessed you could cook like this brat! Maybe you can show my daughter when we get to the Wave.”

“Thank you Tazuna-san, I get a lot of practice.” Naruto said, smiling at the older man.

“Yeah, no joke Naruto, you really do know how to cook.” Kakashi said as he finished pulling his mask back up, smirking when the two students closest to him nearly fainted when they saw his plate completely cleared. 'Nice try kids, but you'll have to work harder than that to see under this mask.'

“Thank you Kakashi-sensei.” Naruto said as he held in the longest and loudest stream of curses he had ever thought of, even using some of the words he had learned from his tenant. “Would you like some more? I've made plenty.”

“No, thank you Naruto, but I'm full.” The jounin said truthfully, he had been given a very generous amount of food by the blond.

“Damn it! So close!” Sakura's inner self screeched at the missed opportunity to see their teacher's face before the girl took a bite of the food in front of her. “Holy Hell! They weren't kidding, Naruto really can cook! If he can do this, Sasuke must be a god in the kitchen!”

“This is good.” Sakura said with a nod before she looked over at her crush. “So, Sasuke, do you like to cook anything?”

The cousins glanced at each other before they did something she never expected, especially from Sasuke, they both burst into hysterical laugher at her question. “What?”

“Forgive us.” Naruto was the first to recover enough to be able to speak, though his words were still interrupted with small bursts of laughter. “But, Sasuke can't cook at all.”

“That's not true!” She protested. “If you can cook like this, the Sasuke...”

“Sakura, he's telling the truth.” Sasuke said, managing to recompose himself. “I really, truly cannot cook.”

“Seriously, even the rats won't touch his cooking.” The blond added. “Actually, it's how we keep them away.”

“You didn't have to tell them that.” The dark haired Uchiha said, scowling at his cousin.

“You want to make breakfast then?” His cousin asked with a smirk.

“You're the devil.” He grunted before taking another bite of his own food.

“And you'd sell your soul for my cooking in a heartbeat.” Naruto chuckled.

“It's not that good.” Sakura interjected with a glare at the blonde.

“Yes it is.” All three of the males said in unison.

“This is nice.” Naruto said after a few minutes, pulling his legs out from under himself and hugging them to his chest.

“You know, something has been bugging me since I got hear.” Tazuna said after a few minutes. “This place is super huge, but I haven't see anybody else around here. Why not?” Both of the boys stopped eating.

“Forgive me Tazuna-san, but we would prefer not to talk about that right now.” Naruto said in a pleasant tone.

The meal went on relatively quietly from that point, Naruto excused himself after a few more awkward minutes by commenting about all the work he still had to do. After he finished his own plate Sasuke excused himself as well by taking his plate into the kitchen before going to set up the spare bedrooms for their guests. That left only Sakura, Tazuna and Kakashi sitting at the table in silence until Sakura spoke up to break the tension.::

“I've been wondering that myself actually Kakashi-sensei.” Sakura said softly. “I heard that something happened here a few years ago, but nobody really told me anything about it.”

“I'm not sure if I'm the person who should tell you about it.” Kakashi sighed after a few moments of deliberation.

“Don't worry about it Kakashi-sensei, I'll tell them.” Naruto said quietly as he walked out of the kitchen. “This isn't a subject I like to talk about, but it's not exactly a secret either.”

“But you just said...” Sakura started before he raised a hand to silence her.

“I know what I said.” The blond interrupted as he took a seat. “It's something that upsets Sasuke, that's why I wouldn't say anything in front of him. I may not act like it in public, but I care about him deeply Sakura-chan. He's like more like a brother to me than a cousin.”

“Eh? You two are related?” Tazuna asked.

“Yes, our mother's were sisters.” Naruto said with a smile as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Not much of a family resemblance is there?”

“No, not really.” The man said, shaking his head.

“Anyway, back to the subject.” The Uchiha said with another sigh. “It was about four years ago that Sasuke lost everything.”

“What happened?” The bridge builder pressed when the boy paused.

“If you'll stop interrupting I'll tell you, this isn't exactly easy for me to talk about either you know.” Naruto said, beginning to lose his patience with the older man. “Four years ago, our clan was wiped out completely. Everyone except for Sasuke, myself and one other.”

“Who?” It was Sakura asked, looking at him with her mint green eyes.

“Uchiha Itachi.” The blond said as he lowered his head slightly. “I don't know why, but that night, he killed off everyone else in the clan. I think that part of the reason we survived the slaughter was we stayed at school late to keep working on our shuriken technique. Anyway, after we got home, we saw Itachi standing over Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san...”

“Naruto, are you alright.” Kakashi asked when Naruto's hand went to his head.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” The blond nodded as he winced. “Just a little headache is all.”

“Who are Fugaku and Mikoto?” Sakura asked as soon as her teammate put his hand down.

“My aunt and Uncle, Sasuke's parents.” Naruto said, taking a deep breath. “I don't really remember too much of what happened after that, I just remember grabbing him and running after he froze up after Itachi-niisan's eyes changed. When I was carrying Sasuke down the street on my back, he appeared in front of me. I remember him saying something to me, but I can't remember what exactly. His eyes changed again and after that I don't remember anything until I woke up the next morning.”

“His eyes changed?” The kunoichi said in a questioning tone.

“Yes, into something called the Mangekyou Sharingan.” Naruto nodded, raising his hand before any more questions could be asked. “Please, I don't want to talk about this anymore, I've got a headache.”

*~*~*

Naruto took a slow, deep breath as soon as he woke up to keep himself from screaming as he emerged from his nightmare. Gods how he hated going to sleep, he could still smell and taste the blood from his dream. There was almost no noise made as he sat up and wiped the cold sweat from his brow before he looked over at his cousin to check on him, seeing that once again he was having his own personal nightmare. A small part of him wanted to wake the older boy but the rest of him knew that he would wake kicking and screaming if he were to do that, the nightmare just had to play itself out like it always did.::
The tatami nats mand no sound under the blond's bare feet as he walked throughout the house to check on his guests. First was Tazuna, who seemed to be passed out cold drunk, not too surprising considering the strength and age of the sake he had drank with dinner. Then there was Kakashi, laying perfectly still and silent in his bedroll, save for the occasional perverted giggle which Naruto guessed were from scenes from his favorite book playing out in his dreams. Lastly he checked on his pink haired teammate who was shifting around under her blankets with a series of moans and giggles.::

“O-oh, Sasuke-kun, right there, don't stop Sasuke-kun.” She groaned in her sleep. “Mm-m-m-m, that's great Sasuke-kun.”

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, a little to loudly apparently as it woke her up immediately.

“Sasuke-kun?” She asked groggily as she looked over at the door frame, realizing who it was by the blond halo cast about him by a distant candlelight. “NA-...”

“Shh, don't do that.” Naruto hissed as he body-flickered behind her hand slapped a hand over her mouth to keep ber from shouting. “You'll wake everyone in the house. I'm going to let you go now, so promise not to scream or shout.” He waited until she nodded before he pulled his hand away from her mouth.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Sakura demanded in a hushed voice, pulling the blankets up around her chest even though she was wearing her nightgown.

“Nothing, I just came to check on everybody.” Naruto said quietly.

“What are you doing up at this hour?” She asked, looking at he briefly glowing dial on her alarm clock. “We only went to bed an hour ago.”

“Yeah, that's about right.” He said with a nod. “Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. You just sounded so funny I couldn't help but laugh.”

“Sounded funny?” She asked cautiously as she looked at him like he was insane.

“O-oh, Sasuke-kun, right there, don't stop Sasuke-kun.” He said mimicking her voice perfectly, much to her disdain. “Mm-m-m-m, that's great Sasuke-kun.” He cleared his throat. “Now I have to know, what was he doing?”

“G-giving me a massage.” She said as her face turned red. “Did I really sound like that?”

“Yes.” He chuckled. “You should go back to sleep Sakura-chan, we've got a long journey ahead and you need your rest.”

“Y-yeah.” Sakura agreed as he gently pushed her back down before tucking her back in. “H-hey, Naruto, how come you're acting so differently now?”

“That...” He paused, touching a fingertip to the end of her nose as he leaned closer and smiled. “Is my little secret, Sakura-chan. Go back to sleep.”

'Why doesn't he act like this all the time? A lot more people would like him if he did.' She thought as a blush crossed her face. 'He might even be able to find a girlfriend if he did.'

Naruto sighed as he leaned against the kitchen counter with a heated tokkuri of sake in one hand and a small ceramic ochoko in the other. Just before he was about to take a drink he heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. When he looked up he saw Kakashi standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. At that moment Naruto decided he really hated that mask their teacher always wore, it made too hard to tell what he was thinking.::

“What's with the bottle?” Kakashi said as he walked fully into the kitchen and leaned against the counter next to his pupil.

“Alcohol honestly helps calm me down.” Naruto sighed as he set the bottle and cup on the counter between them before reaching around and pulling out another ochoko for his teacher. “You want some?”

“Usually the vices don't start until the first kill.” Kakashi remarked as he accepted the cup. “And, technically, you're too young to drink.”

“Technically, I'm a lot of things.” Naruto sighed as he swallowed his drink in one go. “It all depends on who you ask, hell according to more than half the village, I'm pure evil and incomprehensibly old.”

“Eh, I guess.” He said with a shrug as he pulled down his mask and drank his sake the same way as Naruto, immediately regretting it as he started coughing. “What... The hell... Is this?”

“About fifteen years old.” The blond said with a smirk. “Sorry, I guess I should have warned you.”

“Yeah.” He coughed again before straightening out. “Damn.”

“Are you okay?” Naruto asked, refilling the cup his teacher offered him.

“Yeah, I just wasn't expecting sake that old.” The jounin nodded. “So, how long have you been drinking?”

“About three years.” The blond shrugged. “I got locked in the wine cellar for about a day, and the only thing to drink was sake. I found that when I drink, it makes him a bit more complacent, and I can sleep a little bit easier.”

“Does Sasuke know?” His teacher asked quietly.

“About my drinking? Yes, about my squatter? No.” He sighed as he took another swift drink. “I never told him, because it allows me to make him push himself harder, to help him become stronger. Every time he becomes stronger, I show him a little bit more strength and I keep myself just a little bit above his level so he constantly has to strive to beat me.”

“I see, that explains the way you two act in public.” The silver haired man nodded as he took another sip. “But, when you're here, you act like you're both his mother and his father.”

“That's what he needs at home.” Naruto sighed. “I don't mind taking care of him, but it kind of sucks you know, always having to be strong for someone else. Never being able to show any weakness.”

“It's a wonder you haven't cracked up.” Kakashi remarked.

“I can't... I can't abandon Sasuke like that.” Naruto sighed as he refilled his cup before throwing it down his throat. “That's part of the reason I kept drinking after that day, I don't get drunk, but it helps to calm me down and keep me sane.”

“If you wanted to, could you have graduated sooner?” He asked his shortest student.

“Maybe, I could never use the regular clone technique.” He shrugged again, refilling his teacher's cup. “I simply have too much chakra for someone my age to properly control, I can use the more chakra consuming techniques pretty easily, but trying to separate the right amount of chakra for something like a clone technique is like trying to fill a cup with a waterfall.”

“I should stop, I'm starting to feel tipsy already.”Kakashi commented after he finished off his drink and set the ochoko on the counter. “You going to go back to bed?”

“No, I only sleep for about an hour a night.” He said, offering a small smile. “I was actually about to start on chores. Shadow clones definitely make things easier when you're maintaining and entire compound you know?.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kakashi said as he pulled his mask back up, waving as he walked out of the kitchen. “See you in a few hours, I'm going to get some more sleep.”

“Have fun with Miyuki.” Naruto said, causing his teacher to pause for a second and look back. “What? I read the book.”

---

AN
Hello everybody, nice to see you reading another of my stories. For those wondering why I'm working on this story rather that Never Forgotten, well I haven't gotten any further in my writings on that story but this is something that's been bugging me. I'm a person who likes to do the 'What if..." stories. What if this character had done this thing differently, what if this character was a boy/girl, what if this character were straight/gay? You get the point (BTW don't expect much in the way of Yaoi from me, I'm not a fan, sorry). My apologies to those who got the chance to read What You're Asking For and liked it, but I hated that story with a passion. It just did not go the way I had wanted it to and everything just got so messed up.
Anyway, for those of you have stuck with me this far and are curious about some of the details in this story that I haven't yet covered. First off, Naruto's father remains the same, his mother is pretty much the same person too. She's just an Uchiha instead, why? Because I wanted to do it that way. Now, for those of you wondering why he was in so much pain in the beginning scene, his seal isn't as 'complete' as it is in the manga, I guess that's how it can be phrased. He has to deal with both elements of the Kyuubi's chakra, rather than just one, that's also part of the reason he's an Uchiha. For those of you wondering about Itachi's personality, read the freaking manga! I'm all the way caught up with the latest chapter, but I'm not going to give too many spoilers.
Moving on. Naruto's personality. Well let's see, he's been highly sleep deprived since Itachi killed the entire clan because, as you read way in the beginning, Itachi would help him get to sleep. Now his sleep deprivation doesn't harm him physically, it just makes him more prone to moodswings I'll explain more when I talk about the Kyuubi. He's still the same blond we've all come to know and love, he's just a hell of a lot smarter- and, just like Ed in FMA, he hate's being reminded that he's still pretty short. He is also much more mature when they're not in public, this was explained when he was with Kakashi, because he's more concerned about Sasuke's well being than his own. This will come into play later on. His lack of memory for that night will be explained later on. And yes, he is a god in the kitchen.
Onto Sasuke. He's still pretty much the same guy, though he's slightly more dependent than in the manga and anime because of Naruto. Now, this isn't supposed to be a bad thing, he's not a complete weakling, he's just had Naruto there for him since the rest of the clan was killed off. Naruto was just the one who stepped up and became to surrogate parent for them, a lot more will be explained later on.
Kakashi is still pretty much the same person he is in the manga, same back story and everything so nothing new to report here. And as for his drinking with Naruto, eh, I just felt like it.
Sakura. Still a die hard Sasuke fan girl, but she's a little bit more open minded about Naruto, as you've already seen, her parents are among the majority that sees Naruto as the demon fox rather than a human being.
The Kyuubi. Mustn't forget him. Let's see, he's not exactly what I would call pure evil, but he's pretty fucking sadistic in this story. As you've read, he tortures Naruto every time he falls asleep. This is actually more of an attempt to break his will and take over than to torment a little kid, that's just a bonus for him. I've always thought that the fox would be very vain in nature, honestly, he's the most powerful of all the tailed beasts, so it makes sense that he would be pretty full of himself. Because of this vanity, he won't let any scars or blemishes stay on Naruto for more than a few minutes, because he sees Naruto's body as his own and he will accept nothing less than physical perfection from him. That's why sleep deprivation doesn't do any physical harm to Naruto. Also, his chakra has been merging with Naruto's since he was little little, that's the reason Naruto was/is always in so much pain. His chakra only makes up a very small percentage of what Naruto has access to, I'd guess like five percent or so, not much, but think about how much chakra Naruto has. Part of the reason he was sealed in Naruto was because of his potential to activate the Sharingan, which, anybody who's read far enough into the manga will know, has the ability to suppress, or even control the fox's power. Which in case you haven't figured it out by now, will give Naruto more control over the fox, effectively 'completing' the fourth's seal.
So yeah, that about sums things up. Feel free to leave comments on what you think of it. Flames allowed, constructive criticism preferred. Later.